Ascension Through Skills

There were no monsters in sight outside of the direct surroundings. All of them were attacking the city hall, so the outer area was relatively safe.

And the monsters were not just invading Annyang.

There were countless cities in Korea, all of which were under attack.

Taesan headed towards a nearby city.

With his exceptionally high stats, he arrived in no time.

That place was also under attack, just like Annyang. Seeing people fighting desperately, the ghost was slightly surprised.

[Huh. Is it the same for other cities too? How many are there?]

“Since it’s worldwide, it’d be well over hundreds of thousands of areas.”

[Hundreds of thousands?]

The ghost was shocked. Taesan lifted his bow towards a monster, swinging its massive arm, and fired.

It pierced the monster’s head with a sharp sound, but nothing happened.

The monster continued to attack people without suffering any damage.

“I guess it doesn’t work.”

People in other cities were made invulnerable to his interference. He had thought there would be some loopholes, given it was the first return trip, but it was meticulously managed in such regard.

Taesan moved to do what he had originally planned.

He moved near Annyang again and journeyed to a region he had found in the previous world, based on his memory.

And there, he found the monsters.

Gurgling sounds filled the air.

Monsters of all shapes and sizes were clustered together as if protecting something.

They were guarding a split purple rift.

Monsters sprang from the huge rift split in the sky, but not all of them came from there. As if expanding their domain, smaller rifts opened intermittently on the ground, and monsters rushed out from them.

[Special Quest Begins] [Destroy the Veins of the Dark Swamp.] [Rewards will be distributed in the labyrinth according to your achievements.]

Destroying those would reduce the appearance of monsters. It was a kind of area elimination quest.

The monsters gurgled and targeted Taesan.

Taesan brandished his sword.

He took them down one by one. There were dozens of them, but they were all entry-level monsters.

It didn’t even take him minutes to deal with them all.

A beast’s hand appeared from the rift when the last monster fell.

A monster, code number 267511, had appeared.

A six-digit, D-class monster. A black figure in the shape of a wolf.

The ground rift itself had been discovered during the second return trip, but because of this monster, it was only eliminated during the third return trip.

Taesan moved his sword.

There was a clash with the monster’s claws. As a D-class, it was quite strong. To face it alone, one needed to have cleared the Normal Mode. Taesan’s current stats weren’t at that level yet.

However, he had skills and experience.

[Monster 267511 took 78 damage.] [Monster 267511 took 78 damage.]

Vital Attack. Heavy Blow. Continuous Attack. He condensed everything into a single strike. The monster retaliated, but its attack was nullified.

[Your First Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.]

Using the erased attack, he struck again. His sword stroke left an afterimage as it sliced through the monster.

The monster attacked once more.

[Your Second Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.]

The attack was erased.

Taesan continued to attack.

The monster bared its fangs. He deflected it with a parry, creating distance and activating a frost arrow. The monster’s black fur froze.

The monster was undoubtedly strong.

But Taesan has faced too many such monsters before.

“Compared to a health point of over a million, this is nothing.”

He muttered as he drove his sword into the monster’s open mouth. He activated a blazing orb at the edge of his sword at that moment, causing an explosion to occur within the monster’s mouth.

[Monster 267511 took 58 damage.]

Endurance and attack nullification. He also utilized all of his swordsmanship to take down the enemy. After approximately an hour of battle, he was able to claim victory.

“Phew.”

Taesan caught his breath and stood in front of the rift.

“I always feel bad seeing this.”

That cut in space, rippling violet and purple.

It was extremely unpleasant. Just being nearby, he felt an instinctive sense of disgust.

“This is certainly different from the gods of the labyrinth.”

While their power gave a sense of weight and intimidation, it didn’t cause this kind of discomfort.

[This is…….]

The ghost was astonished. Taesan thrust his sword into the rift.

Screeeech!

With an unpleasant sound, the rift disappeared.

That was all he had to do for now. As far as Taesan remembered, there were no more rifts nearby.

[Special Quest Success] [Rewards will be delivered upon return to the labyrinth.]

A window announced the successful destruction of the rift.

And then another one appeared.

[Special Quest Success] [Rewards will be delivered upon return to the labyrinth.]

It appears twice. That only meant one thing.

“Guess we won.”

It meant that the others had cleared the second wave.

Groan……

The monster collapsed with a last terminal groan. Kim Hwiyun, who had dealt the final blow, also collapsed.

“Ugh.”

She fell as if she was sinking, and sweat poured down her body like a flood.

They won. They had overcome that terrible monster, but she could not rejoice.

Mountains of corpses surrounded them. She grimaced.

People had initially tried desperately to escape. They tried to pass through unshakeable barriers and ran towards the city beyond the monster.

But all of them were blocked by the monster and died.

During this time, as hundreds of people died, they realized there was no other way but to bring down the monster.

Not so many people would have died if they had disregarded their lives and attacked from there. While the monster promoted to the second wave was undoubtedly strong, it also had the limitation of being unable to attack multiple people at once.

But they wished for someone to step forward.

Instead of stepping up, they chose to hide in the back, waiting for death.

A few brave ones did step forward, but a few were not enough to do anything.

She did her best, but the monster that appeared wasn’t something she could defeat alone. The limits were clear.

After countless people died, they were able to win.

[Special Quest Success] [Rewards will be delivered upon return to the labyrinth.]

The quest success window appeared. The colorless barrier preventing access to the other sections gradually disappeared.

She suddenly came to her senses.

“I have to go help.”

Taesan was alone.

She knew he was strong but didn’t think he could win against such a monster. The barrier disappeared because everyone had won, but she didn’t know that, and with wobbly legs, she headed in the direction Taesan had been guarding.

Arriving there, Hwiyun’s eyes widened.

“Are you here?”

Numerous monster corpses.

Above them, Taesan was standing without any injuries.

Drained, she collapsed to the ground and let out a hollow laugh.

“We literally fought for our lives…”

“You should’ve been fighting for your lives in the labyrinth too.”

As soon as Taesan finished speaking, a window appeared.

[Congratulations. You have survived. Rewards will be distributed according to the actions you took and the results achieved.] [You will return to the labyrinth in 48 hours.]

Hwiyun mumbled blankly.

“It’s over.”

“For now, yes.”

People had died. They needed to process that.

Under normal circumstances, loud politicians or those who claimed status on Earth would have raised their voices, but all of them had been killed by monsters.

Naturally, the focus fell on the people of Hard Mode and Solo Mode, and among them, Kim Hwiyun received the most support.

Previously, she had suggested rational approaches, and everyone saw her risk her life in battle. Thus, they followed her word without question.

Trust was given to those who risked their lives, especially to those who did it alongside others.

Hwiyun was taken aback by the blind support.

In her view, it should have been Taesan leading the people.

However, Taesan declined.

“I’m not cut out for that.”

He was not someone who could lead others. He had painfully realized that in his previous life.

“And besides, they’ll like you more, right?”

Too divergent an individual was often excluded from a group. Hwiyun gave a bitter laugh, seemingly aware of that to some degree.

Under her direction, the situation was quickly organized.

“Out of a hundred thousand… only thirty thousand survived.”

Hwiyun bit her lip with a pained expression. Seventy percent had died. It was the worst survival rate considering that losing half was regarded as annihilation in a war.

“You did your best.”

Taesan said. They had returned without any information in the first place, and they didn’t even know what a wave was. Not to mention, the people’s mentality was also immature.

In the previous world, if only this many had survived…

Considering the circumstances, the survival rate wasn’t bad.

“You can’t save everyone.”

Taesan spoke the harsh but rational reality.

“It’s better to get used to death.”

Hwiyun bit her lip.

The people, surprisingly, maintained a composed demeanor. Too many people had died. Those who lost friends buried them with their own hands.

Gradually, they realized that they were in a world where civilization and order did not exist, and anyone, even those who might mourn their death, could die the next day.

The excitement of returning to Earth had completely disappeared.

So, when Hwiyun reported the number of deaths, there wasn’t much of a disturbance.

Taesan approached Junggeun.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, somehow. I’m managing.”

He was a person who could realistically assess what he could and couldn’t do. Especially this time, since he couldn’t protect anything from the beginning, he seemed to be less mentally shocked.

Taeyeon and Kang Junhyeok were not much different.

Both of them were used to death, having survived in Solo Mode, where everyone was dying. They were shocked when they heard about the deaths of people from Solo Mode but recovered quickly.

[.....]

Since observing the rift, the Ghost had been silent, seemingly deep in thought. Taesan didn’t rush him, assuming it was something that could be discussed once they were back in the labyrinth.

As time passed and it was time to return to the labyrinth, Kim Hwiyun called everyone and spoke.

“Many people have died.”

Of the five hundred thousand Annyang citizens, only thirty thousand survived. Hwiyun spoke with a distorted face at the desperate figures.

“This return won’t be the end.”

There would surely be a second and a third.

“We have to survive. For those who have died and for the truth of everything,” she said softly.

Everyone listened with serious faces.

“Let’s become as strong as possible and come back.”

Taesan listened to her speech from afar.

The first return marked a turning point, making those who had been leisurely exploring the labyrinth approach it with a more serious attitude.

They would undoubtedly be stronger the next time they met.

“See you next time.”

“Yes, you too, hyung.”

“See you later.”

It was time to say goodbye to Taeyeon and Kang Junhyeok. Just as when they had returned, space split and swallowed them.

Taesan closed his eyes and opened them again.

Moist air. Moss-covered walls.

It hadn’t been a week since he had left this place.

He started to organize his situation quickly.

What was in front of him now was the boss room on the 10th floor. If he defeated the second boss beyond that, the ghost would leave and disappear.

And after passing the 10th floor, proper equipment would appear in the shop.

In terms of magic, if he learned the Invisibility spell, then he would have learned all the spells Lillis had.

“Okay.”

The assessment was over. Taesan reopened the system window he had closed.

There had been a mention of different bonuses being awarded every time they did something on Earth and returned to the labyrinth. Now that he was back, it was time to receive the reward.

[Monster Situation Bonus + 443] [First Wave Bonus + 124] [Second Wave Bonus + 435] [Special Quest Bonus + 845] [Suppression Bonus + 54] [Victory Bonus + 75] [Settlement Complete] [482p will be granted.]

482p. Back in the previous world, he only received a mere 10p after his first return. Considering that Kim Hwiyun, who had received the most back then, didn’t even surpass 50p, it was an extraordinary figure.

And there were a lot of ways to use the points.

[The provided P points can be used for everything. It can be converted to gold and can increase stats. It can also increase the proficiency of skills.]

Since it was earned outside the labyrinth, it could increase even things that require an enormous value to increase within the labyrinth.

Normally, he should be careful with the usage as he would only receive a small amount of P, but the amount he received this time had almost reached 500.

Taesan joyfully checked the skills he possessed.